Banjo



W. MAYER.

BANJO.

No. 493,635. Patented Mar.21,1893.

Uniirao STATES PATENT Carton.

YVILLIAM MAYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 493,635, dated March21, 1893.

Application filed November 2, 1892. Serial No. 450, 703.

To wZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MAYER, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banjos;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in banjosand more particularly to the means and manner of putting the head on andsecuring the same.

It has for its objectamong others to dispense with the hooks and othercontrivances upon the outside of the banjo, which exterior contrivancesare always liable to catch into the clothing and injure the same or tobe injured thereby.

It has for a further object to decrease the width of the rim whereby abetter and clearer tone is produced and at the same time the expense andweight of the instrument is diminished. The rim has brackets for thereception of the hooks which are provided with threaded shanks toreceive the adjusting nuts by which the head is tightened. The nuts areof peculiar construction, being beveled upon their faces adjacent to thesaid brackets whereby they prevent contact of the threaded portion ofthe hooks with the brackets.

The device is simple, cheap and durable, and in practice it has beenproven that a banjo constructed in accordance with my invention ispreferable by far to the prior forms.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appearand the novel features thereof will be specifically defined by theappended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisspecification, and in which Figure l is a perspective view of myimproved banjo. Fig. 2 is asectional view showing the bracket or lug onthe rim and the hook and its nut. Fig. 3, is a section at right (Nomodel.)

angles to Fig. 2. Fig.4 is a perspective view of a bracket which Iemployfor the long hooks.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews in which they appear.

Referring now to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates therim which it will be noticed is of much less width than heretofore andat proper intervals it is provided with holes a which may assume anydesired shape but preferably substantially rectangular as shown; theseholes are formed by the stamping out or otherwise forming of the lugs orbrackets B which extend from the inner face of the rim substantially atright angles thereto, and these lugs or brackets are notched or slottedas seen at b for a purpose which will soon be made apparent.

C represents the wire ring around which the head D is secured or held inthe usual manner, and E represents the hoop.

In applying the head or skin it should be wet enough to make it pliablebut not soaked until it becomes too flabby. After the head has becomesufficiently pliable lay it on the rim of the banjo and then place thewire ring or flesh hoop C over the head, thus bringing it down over therim as shown, being careful to draw the head evenly and have as fewwrinkles in the skin as possible. Keep the wire ring near the top of therim and as even as possible; then, taking the hoop or band in one hand,tuck the edge of the head under the hoop and put on a long hook E tohold the band in place; now tuck in more of the edge of the head, goingaround the rim, and put on another hook; do this again, going fartheraround the rim, and until the parts are in place.

In using thelong hooks itis necessary to have some means of holding thesame and for this purpose I employ the bracket such as is shown at F inFig. 4, the hookfengaging the bottom edge of the rim and the long hookpassing through the hole f in the flange of the bracket at the other endas shown. These brackets are designed to be taken off when the head isfully on. The brackets are struck up from sheet metal or otherwiseformed. Vhen the head has been drawn into the proper position in themanner above described, then the small hooks G are applied in thefollowing manner;

the shanks of the hooks are held in the hoop or band E and are passedthrough the holes in the rim and engaged in the slots or notches of thebrackets B as seen in Fig. 1 and then the nuts H are applied and screwedup tight to draw the head taut. These nuts are beveled as seen at itupon their faces adjacent to the brackets which latter are slightlycountersunk so that the nut will be guided to its center so as toprevent the hooks from bruising the threads by rubbing against thebrackets. It will be thus seen that I provide a banjo in which the meanswhich secure the head in place are all arranged upon the inside of therim and by such means the head can be quickly and easily tightened whendesired. The long hooks are taken off after the head has been secured inplace and are only employed for convenience in securing the parts.

What I claim as new is 1. In a banjo, the combination with the rim andthe hoop the former being provided with inwardly slotted brackets 13, ofthe head, and the hooks connecting the hoop and rim and arranged uponthe inside of the rim, as setforth.

2. In a banjo, the combination with the rim having integral brackets,extending inwardly 30 and slotted of the hoop, the head and its ring,

the hooks securing the hoop to the rim and the nuts on the hooksarranged within the rim, as set forth.

3. The combination with the rim having holes and brackets, said bracketsbeing slotted and the inner walls of the slot being bev eled, of thehoop, the wire ring, the head, the hooks and the beveled nuts, allsubstantially as specified.

4. The combination with the rim having slotted brackets and holes, ofthe hoop, the hooks thereon, the wire ring, the head, and the nuts onthe ends of the hooks within the rim and held in the slots of thebrackets, substantially as specified.

5. In a banjo, the combination with the hoop, of the rim provided withthe inwardly extending slotted brackets, the under sides of the innerwall of which are beveled from the inner edge outward, of the clamps,the bolts and the nuts having their upper ends beveled, substantially asshown and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM MAYER.

Witnesses:

CHRISTOPHER J. RAMSAY, JOHN G. LYLE.

